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bigbackcomics
08-13-2003, 04:08 PM
Hello everyone:

I have a question about Motion Builder and working with 3rd party apps. Please forgive me if this is a silly question.

I am a Lightwave user but my question pertains to any package.

I understand what Motion Builder is for (at least I think I do) taking characters and animating them to send back to the host package for rendering. My question is how do you animate the characters knowing full well they will sit or animate in some kind of environment. Do you have the port the environment to Motion Builder to for reference? I guess what I am asking is how to animate characters in Motion Builder full while knowing the character will interact with other scene elements including fog, props, moutains, etc..

I hope I am making sense.

Thanks,
frigger
08-13-2003, 05:13 PM
Using MB and the FBX File Format you can do just about anything you wish; e.g. Lets say we have a shot that calls for the Character to sit on a chair that then falls apart.. You could animate the chair using your native software and its dynamics then import the chair into MB and animate the Charactor or you can animate it all in MB then Export back to LW,Maya.. for rendering and FX.

The basic work flow I try to follow (I Use Maya):

1. Model, Base Texture, Blend Shapes (LW Endomorphs) in Maya.

2. Import to MB Animate everthing I can Characters, Doors ...

3. Import (Merge) back to Maya Light,Shade, FX and Render

If you have a specific workflow question check all the forums and maybe post a detailed message as to what you need help with, I have spent most of the last six months working on Workflow between Maya and MB, no point in falling in love with MB if it can't fit into the Pipeline.

Hope this Helps...
LFGabel
08-13-2003, 10:27 PM
Frigger's right. One thing I also do is use proxy objects that are the same dimensions as their hires counterparts, but a lot lighter poly count. Then when I get my scene back into Lightwave, it's a simple replace. FBX files can get pretty large with a lot of hi-poly chracters/props.
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